Mistreatment

In 2010, the Stanford School of Medicine leadership was concerned that the rate of mistreatment reported by our graduating medical students on the annual AAMC GQ had increased over prior years. It was decided to redouble efforts to improve the learning climate for students, underscoring our school’s zero tolerance for inappropriate treatment of learners.

What Constitutes Mistreatment?

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) lists these behaviors as mistreatment on the annual Graduation Questionnaire that is sent to each student in the nation who is graduating from medical school:

Publicly humiliated

Required to perform personal services

Physically harmed or threatened with physical harm

Subjected to unwanted sexual advances

Asked to exchange sexual favors for grades or other rewards

Denied opportunities for training or rewards based solely on gender, race or ethnicity, or sexual orientation

Received lower evaluations or grades solely because of gender, race or ethnicity, or sexual orientation

Subjected to offensive remarks because of gender, race or ethnicity, or sexual orientation

Respectful Educator and Mistreatment Committee (REMC)

The Respectful Educator and Mistreatment Committee (REMC) was created to educate and raise awareness of our standards for respectful educator conduct, to enable a procedure by which students can report concerns of student mistreatment without fear of retaliation and to address solutions of these concerns. Click here to view the Respectful Educator and Mistreatment Policy. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the REMC Chair, Dr. Smith-Coggins directly.

How REMC Responds to Mistreatment

When a student expresses a concern of mistreatment, it is brought to REMC in a blinded fashion so that the student (and educator, if named) remains anonymous

REMC’s response depends on whether the source of the mistreatment is named and the severity of the mistreatment

If the source is named, action is taken according to the Mistreatment Response Pyramid. If the source is not named, the Clerkship Director informs the department about the reported mistreatment and initiates learning climate improvements

Levels 2, 3 and 4 of the pyramid apply when an educator has been named more than one time

Team of Coaches

The Team of Coaches was trained to deliver mistreatment feedback. These coaches are respected nonsupervisory, senior faculty who are selected from different departments. The training for coaches focuses on methods of sharing anonymous, delayed, negative feedback based on perception, discouraging retaliatory and defensive thoughts, encouraging self-reflection and avoiding educator demoralization.